Nahuas

The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnic group and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as the largest population out of any North American Indigenous people group who are native speakers of their respective Indigenous language. Amongst the Nahua, this is Nahuatl. When ranked amongst all Indigenous languages across the Americas, Nahuas list third after speakers of Guaraní and Quechua.

ethnic group of Central America

The Tlaxcalans (sometimes Tlaxcallans), or Tlaxcalteca, are an Indigenous Nahua people who originate from the Confederacy of Tlaxcala (modern day Tlaxcala, Mexico). The Confederacy was instrumental in overthrowing the Aztec Empire in 1521, alongside conquistadors from the Kingdom of Spain. The Tlaxcalans remained allies of the Spanish for 300 years until the Independence of Mexico in 1821.

300px|thumb|Territory dominated by Tepanecs. thumb|left|Glyph denoting Tepanecs The Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries. The Tepanec were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Acolhua and others—these tribes spoke the Nahuatl language and shared the same general pantheon, with local and tribal variations. However, some authors suspect the Tepaneca had partial Otomi or Matlatzinca origins. The patron deity of the Tepanec was Ototontecuhtli, also called Cuecuex, who was also a major deity

Nahua state

thumb|Ethécatl, the Acolhua God of Wind, Musée du quai Branly The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua are included under the term Aztec and were a sister culture of the Mexica as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. The Acolhua settled most of the eastern Basin of Mexico, an area known as Acolhuacan. Their first capital was Coatlinchan, later moving to the more famous Tetzcoco. Another important Acolhua city was Huejotla.

The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1325. A dissident group in Tenochtitlan separated and founded the settlement of Tlatelolco with its own dynastic lineage. In 1521, their empire was overthrown by an alliance of Spanish conquistadors and rival indigenous nations, most prominently the Tlaxcaltecs.

The Olmeca-Xicallanca, also known as the Historic Olmecs, were a people that dominated parts of central Mexico during the epiclassic period (after the seventh century), originating from the south of Veracruz and the west of Tabasco. They should not be confused with the preclassic Olmec culture, although it is possible that they originate from the same geographic area.

nahua ethnic group of Nicaragua